How a $36 million deal could become worth more than $73 million to Chicago-based Solstice Mobile

Chicago-based Solstice Mobile, which provides digital strategy and product-design tools and services to leading corporations, has been acquired by London-based marketing services firm St Ives Group, the companies announced Tuesday.

St Ives will acquire the 14-year-old company for about $36 million, most from an initial payment in cash and the rest in stock. Depending on performance through 2017, Solstice could receive additional cash and stock that would value the deal at more than $73 million, according to St Ives.

J Schwan, Solstice Mobile’s founder and CEO, declined to confirm terms of the deal but referred to the deferred payment and said he had an incentive to stay with the company at least three years.

Schwan said he started looking for potential strategic acquirers eight months ago because he knew that Solstice’s global expansion would proceed more quickly if it were bought.

“As the type of thing that we do and the digital product development space started maturing, we needed a global model to help those clients and companies fully realize their investments,” Schwan said.

Solstice has 175 employees in Chicago and another 25 in its New York and Buenos Aires offices, which Schwan said the company opened in 2014. Those offices will remain open, and Solstice will use its new relationship to expand into the U.K., then Europe and Asia, Schwan said.

Schwan said he liked that Solstice would continue to operate independently as a part of St Ives’ portfolio. He said he is excited about the opportunity to form strategic partnerships with other portfolio companies, many of which offer different marketing or digital services.